Ki Won Oh,; Eun Joo Yun,; Eun Jung Rhee,; Won Young Lee,; Ki Hyun Baek,; Kun Ho Yoon,; Moo Il Kang,; Eun Sook Oh,; Cheol Young Park,; Sung Hee Ihm,; Moon Gi Choi,

Korean J Med > Volume 70(1); 2006 > Article

Original Article

The Korean Journal of Medicine 2006;70(1):41-52.

Ki Won Oh, Eun Joo Yun, Eun Jung Rhee, Won Young Lee, Ki Hyun Baek, Kun Ho Yoon, Moo Il Kang, Eun Sook Oh, Cheol Young Park, Sung Hee Ihm, Moon Gi Choi,

Department of Internal Medicine, Chungbuk National University College of Medicine, Cheongju, Korea

원저 : 한국인 성인 여성에서 osteoprotegerin 유전자 다형성과 대동맥 석회화의 관련성 (Original Articles : The relationship between osteoprotegerin gene polymorphism and aortic calcification in Korean women)

오기원, 윤은주, 이은정, 이원영, 백기현, 윤건호, 강무일, 오은숙, 박철영, 임성희, 최문기, 유형준

Abstract

Background : Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a recently identified cytokine that acts as a decoy receptor for the receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL). OPG has been shown to be an important inhibitor of osteoclastogenesis and arterial calcification in animal models. Recently, OPG has been proposed as a link molecule between osteoporosis and arterial calcification, but the relationship between OPG gene and cardiovascular system in human populations is unclear. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between OPG gene polymorphisms and aortic calcification in healthy Korean women.
Methods
: We observed 251 healthy Korean women (mean age, 51.3±6.9 yr). We determined cardiovascular risk factors. Thoracic and abdominal aortic calcifications were examined by simple radiological methods. A163G, G209A, T245G, and T950C polymorphisms of OPG gene were analyzed by allelic discrimination using the 5' nuclease polymerase chain reaction assay.
Results
: The frequency of mutant allele was increased in the aortic calcification (+) group as compared with aortic calcification (-) group (G209A, 28.6% vs. 18.7%, p=0.029; T950C, 75.9% vs. 65.4%, p=0.017). However, no significant relationship was found between OPG gene polymorphisms and serum OPG levels and cardiovascular risk factors.
Conclusions
: We observed that the OPG gene polymorphisms were partly associated with aortic calcification in healthy Korean women. Further studies are needed to clarify this relationship.(Korean J Med 70:41-52, 2006) Key Words : Osteoprotegerin, Polymorphism, Aortic Calcification

Key Words: Osteoprotegerin, Polymorphism, Aortic Calcification